On Tuesday 22nd January 2019, Cornwall Council hosted the meeting in St Austell, chaired by Joe Roberts (Private Sector Housing Manager). Items discussed included Revenue and Assessment Services update, Home Solutions Team Adaptation Policy update, CRLS update and a plan discussed for the following year’s aims of the group. The progress of the extension of mandatory HMO licencing was also discussed together with notices and prosecutions.

Iain Maitland (Vice-Chair, representing SWLA) and Gillian Kerr (Office Manager and Accreditation Co-Ordinator representing Landlord Accreditation South West) attended the Plymouth Charter meeting on Monday 21st January 2019 to discuss and review the aims and objectives of the Charter.

The committee was chaired by Councillor Penberthy (Portfolio Holder for Housing and Co-Operative Development) assisted by Matt Garrett (Community Connections Service Director). Other attendees were representative of letting agents, housing charities, the social sector, Shelter and CAB.

14th January 2019 saw the 3rd and final reading of the Tenant Fees Bill in the House of Lords. Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth confirmed on the afternoon of 15th January 2019 that subject to the Bill getting Royal Assent, the Tenant Fees Bill will come into effect on 1st June 2019 for all tenancies signed on or after that date.

Throughout the report stage amendments have been made; the deposit cap lowered from 6 weeks rent max to 5 weeks rent max for properties with an annual rent of less than £50,000.00.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government believe that the amendments ‘strike a fair balance between improving affordability for tenants whilst ensuring that landlords and agents have the financial security they need’.

The final content of the legislation is not yet confirmed, however key points of the Bill are as follows;

Default fees limited to charges for replacement keys (or respective security device) and late rent only

Cap holding deposits to max 1 weeks rent (applying to a max of one property only)

Creates a civil offence with a fine of £5,000.00 for first offence and civil penalties of up to £30,000.00.

Local authorities to retain the money raised and reserve for future local housing enforcement

Amendment of the Consumer Right Act 2015 to specify that the letting agent transparency requirements will also apply to property portals (i.e. Rightmove, Zoopla)

What is exempted form the banned list? Holding deposits, rent, deposits and charges for defaulting on the contract are all exempted however are subject to additional restrictions as part as part of the legislation.

The Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS) has become the first of the three Government-approved tenancy deposit protection schemes to appoint a new external, independent complaints reviewer.

Margaret Doyle has taken up the new role and says: “Having an independent and impartial outside reviewer is a key process for demonstrating robust arrangements exist for ensuring that customer complaints are dealt with well, and that complainants have the opportunity for review by someone outside of TDS.

“It is also designed to help TDS learn lessons from complaints and to help improve service provision.”

Doyle’s appointment was introduced to enhance the scheme’s transparency to members and the wider private rental sector.

The role of the independent complaints reviewer will be to look at the way the TDS has investigated complaints about its service, in order to ensure that the process has been fair and transparent, and that the issues raised have been properly considered.

In its 2018 Annual Review, the TDS reported that less than 1% of its tenancy deposits ended in a dispute – a total of 14,430.

Of these 14,430 disputes, just 2.65% resulted in a complaint being made about the adjudication decision or the service received.

Steve Harriott, the Chief Executive of the TDS, says: “We take any complaints about our service very seriously and strive for the highest standards of complaints handling practice. If a complainant remains unhappy about TDS’s response to their formal complaint about an adjudication decision or other aspect of TDS’s customer service, they can escalate it to the independent complaints reviewer.

“This role does not make Margaret a TDS staff member, but someone who is appointed by the TDS board to take an independent view of complaints and report annually to the board on their work.”

He adds: “As the only not-for-profit deposit protection scheme operating in England and Wales, TDS is committed to a programme of continuous investment in our systems, processes, people and service. Margaret’s appointment is part of that ongoing strategy and we are proud to have her on board.”

It will be a requirement for all social and private landlords (including letting agents acting on their behalf) in England to ensure that a property is fit for human habitation both at the beginning of the tenancy and throughout. The Bill amends the Landlord and Tenant Act 1984.

If a home does not meet the standards of the HHSRS (Housing Health and Safety Rating System), tenants can take legal action in court for breach of contract.

Put forward by Labour MP Karen Buck, the Bill received Royal Accent on 20th December 2018 and comes into force 3 months after that date – 20th March 2019. Initially it will only apply to new and renewal tenancies in England from this date. It will then apply to periodic tenancies 12 months later to give landlords time to ensure properties are up to standard.

The government have a HHSRS guide for landlords and property professionals;

The Tenant Fees Bill 2017-2019 is due it’s 3rd and final reading on 15th January 2019 in the House of Lords. Once the final reading takes place, it will then return to the House of Commons for a consideration of amendments, after that it can receive Royal Assent and become law.

The implementation date is not known but is to be expected in Spring 2019 at the earliest. The Bill seeks to ban most letting agent and landlord charges to tenants and will place caps on security and holding deposits.

All organisations, companies and sole traders that process personal data must pay an annual fee to the ICO unless they are exempt. Fines for not paying can be up to a maximum of £4,350.

This follows regulations which came into force alongside the new Data Protection Act on 25 May 2018.

These first organisations have been fined for not renewing their fees following their expiry and more fines are set to follow. More than 900 notices of intent to fine have been issued by the ICO since September and more than 100 penalty notices are being issued in this first round.